Donor counselling

Donor Conception Counselling

Narelle has close to 20 years experience providing implications counselling for egg, sperm and embryo donation.  If you wish to become a donor, or you need to use a donor to conceive, you may benefit from the opportunity to speak to a counsellor who is fully independent from any fertility clinic. Narelle can support you through the complex decision making process required to determine if donor treatment is right for you and your family.  Narelle has close to 20 years experience providing implications counselling for egg, sperm and embryo donation.  If you wish to become a donor, or you need to use a donor to conceive, you may benefit from the opportunity to speak to a counsellor who is fully independent from any fertility clinic. Narelle can support you through the complex decision making process required to determine if donor treatment is right for you and your family.

If you require mandated implications counselling prior to the commencement of treatment utilising donated gametes Narelle understands the legislative requirements for donor treatment across all Australian jurisdictions, and her counselling practice is fully compliant with the Practice Guidelines enforced by NHMRC, RTAC and ANZICA.

Narelle will require a minimum of two sessions of counselling for both donors and recipients. For known donations a joint session involving all parties will be undertaken as part of the two sessions.  Further sessions can be made available for any party wanting this or at the discretion of the counsellor where issues may still require addressing.A “cooling off” period may be helpful for all parties before signing consent and proceeding to treatment to allow thorough consideration of the issues raised in counselling. (In some jurisdictions this is a legislative requirement as is post cooling off period final counselling review.)

Counselling in relation to the donation/ receipt of donated eggs, sperm or embryos will include discussion of:

• Decision-making re whether to us a known or identity-release (clinic recruited) donor.
• motivations of the donor and recipients in the context of their family and social history
• recipients’ and donors’ feelings about non-genetic parenting
• examination of the risks and benefits of donation
• short and long-term consequences for all parties concerned, including that the donation may result in an adverse outcome
• exploration of expectations of all parties (if known donation) regarding relationship between recipient(s) and donor and donor conceived child and donor
• exploration of the acknowledged importance that donor information be accessible for any donor conceived person and the future availability of donors for information about identity attitudes to telling others, plans to disclose donor conception to children and how to do this the donor-conceived child’s potential interest in knowing more about the donor and potentially having contact
• relevant federal and state legislation and RTAC/NHMRC guidelines.